The central lab of the city was housed in 2 floors of Central Tower. The lab had machines and electronics lying everywhere, as the scientists were on constant call and alert just in case anything happened. Both floors had high ceilings, as they packed as much as they could wherever. Exposed wires laid around which people constantly stepped over. The staircase that lead to the second floor split at the landing into two distant directions. Each lead to a different area of the lab.

A brown haired woman with black eyes was writing down a few things on a clipboard. She wore the normal outfit of a scientist, but her posture made her appear to have some sort of authority. She brushed her long hair with her hand as she looked up at what appeared to be a drill. She turned to a nearby scientist.

"You. Status report."

He jumbled around for a second before responding. "Ummm well the output increased to about 80% of the expected. It would take about 2 hours to drill the section of the Reux Lania mine you wanted to-"

"2 hours?! I said we need to get this thing down to 1 hour tops! What the devil are you people doing?" She continued her rant before another female scientist walked up to her. "Miss Lancaster....Tsukiko is here..."

Sarah turned around and smiled. "Ah, so he got my letter after all. Alright, send him in and send him up to my office." She walked off up the stairs. She turned right at the landing, and walked into a room not too far away from there labeled "Sarah Lancaster, Head Researcher".

When she walked in, she noticed a girl sitting at the waiting chair. She had similar hair, but green eyes. She wasn't attractive per say, be she did inherit quite a bit of charm for only being 16 years old. She turned and saw Sarah enter. "Mom! There you are!"

Sarah smiled. "Was there something you needed Rebecca?"

Rebecca frowned. "You've been in this lab 3 days straight, I just want you to come home for once."

Sarah smiled and walked over to her. "Rebecca, I just have someone I need to do a routine check up on then I can go home. But...if I'm gonna go home now you gotta help me with him, alright?" Rebecca agreed.

The repetitive muttering came from Tsukiko as the silver haired boy walked through the halls and floors of Central Tower. While he seemed slightly calm on the outside, inside he was panicking and trying VERY hard to avoid any contact with any of the equipment or people. Last thing he needed was to set off a black hole here of all places.

"She just HAD to call me here didn't she? Damn woman.."

Tsukiko sighed as he looked down at the paper in his hands. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since the ceremony back at the academy where he and his two teammates, Hibiki and Cara, had become an official team. It still made him a bit nervous, the idea of being in a team with people and living together considering the past few years he had been traveling alone.

It also didn't help that he was named team leader. The memory still sent a shiver down his spine.

Him? A leader? Was Alex fucking joking?! What about him made him leader material? Okay yeah he had helped people sure, but anyone would do the same in his shoes, hell Hibiki had a similar thought process and attitude, so why wasn't he picked?!

It's not that he hated the idea, it's just that Tsukiko wasn't sure how to feel. His teammates were good people and he had taken to their company well so it wasn't so bad, but he had never been a leader. He had no idea what it meant or what he was supposed to do.

He had always kept a distance from people, trying never to get to close or stay for too long out of fear his powers would hurt them. He knew it'd be something he'd have to face when he came to this place, but as a leader? With people who he now had to guide and trust his word?

Tsukiko shook his head. No, no more negativity. What was done was done and there was no changing it. He would just have to figure it out later. For now, he had other things to deal with.

Tsukiko focused back on the paper in his hand and turned left as he approached a stairway and walked up. He still had no idea what this was all about.

Not long after he and his new team, he still needed a name for them now that he thought of it, had settled into their new dorm, Lancaster-san had sent him a message. She had asked him to come to her lab in Central Tower, though she didn't say why, only that she had already sent a ride to pick him up and to speak to the woman at the front desk when he arrived.

It confused him as to why she wanted to see him, but whatever the reason must have been important. He was just grateful that Hibiki and Cara were busy with unpacking so he didn't have to answer any questions about where he was going.

It was only then did he realize just what kind of place he had entered and had nearly fled at the sight. Still, he couldn't just ignore Lancaster-san's note, as whatever she called him for had to be important. Hell it may have to do with the orb he carried in his pocket, and if so he needed to hear what she had to say.

The idea that he also still needed to apologize for his actions on the boat had nothing to do with his decision to stay either.

And so here he was, inside possibly one of the most valuable, expensive, and dangerous places in the whole city, trying to find the lab of the woman who CLEARLY had no worries about his damn powers activating and ripping a hole in some untested nuclear experiment or something?!

"She does this on purpose I swear," Tsukiko muttered as he turned right.

After a moment Tsukiko spotted a door with Lancaster's name on it. Sighing in relief that he had reached his destination the silver-haired boy pocketed the note away and knocked on the door.

Time to see what was up.

[From this point forward the rest of the events unfolding occur in the Terminal City Chatbox section.]